The past three weeks have been rather quiet in Atlantic Hockey, but fans will have plenty to choose from this weekend, as 24 games dot the schedule – 13 on the men’s side and 11 on the women’s.

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Bentley and Niagara – the current second and third-place teams in the standings – will be one of two conference series, alongside Air Force and Sacred Heart.

Holy Cross and Robert Morris will compete in the Cactus Cup and Desert Hockey Classic respectively, while AIC, Army, Mercyhurst and RIT (exhibition) will also be in action.

The women’s slate is littered with games too as Syracuse visits No. 4 Minnesota Duluth on Thursday and Friday, and Lindenwood hosts Minnesota State. Robert Morris also hosts Yale for a pair of games and RIT heads to Post.

However, the biggest matchup takes place Saturday, as 12th-ranked Penn State heads to the State of Hockey.

The Nittany Lions will take on Bemidji State on Friday and face No. 3 Minnesota on Saturday at Ridder Arena. The games are part of the East/West Showcase and will be Penn State’s first action since Dec. 7.

Penn State is currently 15-4-1 and has won nine of its past 11 (9-1-1), including a sweep at Mercyhurst last time out. Jeff Kampersal’s club is 8-0-0 in conference play and sits atop the standings with 22 points – six ahead of second-place Syracuse.

Penn State’s roster features five of the league’s top eight point leaders and four of the top seven goal scorers, and the Nittany Lions have out-scored their opponents, 71-33. Tessa Janecke and Maddy Christian have lit the lamp 14 times each, and Janecke leads the conference with 31 points through 20 games.

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🏆

Congrats to Tessa Janecke and @usahockey on becoming Six Nations Tournament Champions! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/gghqgDWFs0

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) December 16, 2024

Penn State also leads AHA in goals against per game (1.65), shots on goal per game (37), penalty kill (84.9%) and its 16 power-play goals rank second.

The Nittany Lions are 2-3 against ranked opponents so far this season but will look to pull back to .500 and make a statement with a win over the Golden Gophers.

Here are some of the other top storylines this week in Atlantic Hockey.

Men’s Hockey

• Holy Cross suffered a 3-1 loss at Long Island on Tuesday, which snapped the Crusaders’ four-game win streak. Senior goaltender Thomas Gale made another 18 saves and sports a .922 save percentage on the season. Holy Cross will play Omaha on Friday in Palm Springs, Calif.
• Bentley and Niagara are separated by five points in the AHA standings. Bentley’s 42 goals ranked second in the conference while their 25 goals allowed are the third-fewest. Bentley is allowing an AHA-best 2.17 goals per game.
• Army freshman goaltender JJ Cataldo has dropped his last six starts but still owns the league’s best GAA at 1.97.

• Robert Morris is averaging 3.41 goals through its first 17 games, which leads the conference. RMU has won four of its last six games and also owns AHA’s top power play at 24% (12-for-50).
• Walter Zacher (RMU) and Felix Trudeau (Sacred Heart) are tied for the conference lead with 11 goals each. Zacher has four goals over his past four games.

One might say Walter Zacher is having a good season💪 pic.twitter.com/0fL07fvJ1u

— RMU Men’s Hockey (@RMUMHockey) December 27, 2024

Women’s Hockey

• RIT fell to Cornell on New Year’s Eve, 5-1. Kylie Aquaro scored RIT’s lone goal while goaltender Sarah Coe made 38 saves in the loss.
• Penn State (plus-38) and RIT (plus-3) are the only AHA teams with positive goal differentials this season.
• Mercyhurst has a .924 team save percentage, which leads the AHA. Jorden Mattison and Magdalena Luggin rank second and third among AHA goaltenders in GAA.
• Syracuse graduate forward Bryn Saarela is tied for the conference lead with three game-winning goals. Saarela is third in the conference with 10 goals and is one of four AHA skaters with a hat trick this season.
• Syracuse is 7-12-0 overall but the Orange are 5-3-0 in conference play and trail Penn State by six points. Syracuse will host Penn State on Jan. 17-18.

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